Ski Holidays in Val d'Isère, France

Val d'Isère holidays are the most popular breaks for serious ski, board, and party enthusiasts in France. Val d'Isère and Tignes are part of the vast Espace Killy ski area boasting an excellent snow record. It is rated in the top five winter sport holiday destinations in Europe and in the top ten of the world. We go in April every year and between us at Iglu Ski, we have over 600 weeks of skiing and riding experience so we know what we like!

Val d'Isère Ski Resort

The Val d'Isère village is long and thin at the bottom of a deep v-shaped valley. As you approach the resort you pass by Lac du Chevril, under which the old town of Tignes (sunk in 1952) is found. You then enter Val d'Isère via La Daille where the Olympic downhill run finishes. This is a very popular way for skiers to leave the mountain on Val d'Isère holidays, as it is directly below the greatest après ski party in France at Folie Douce. The ski down at closing time is riotous but only recommended for strong intermediates and above. The resort itself offers a contasting mix of old and new accomodation which meanders along the valley floor from La Daille to the main centre. La Daille is also where the majority of self-catering apartments are found. Buses to town take seven minutes or it’s an easy 15 minute flat walk.

Val d’Isere has one main village centre and most of the accommodation is close to the lifts and shops. Loads of...read full

After good snow fall head to Le Fornet region and take the signal drag lift to experience great off-piste in the...read full

The central town of Val d'Isère is large and cosmopolitan with countless bars, restaurants and clubs. The nightlife is hectic and we recommend Bananas for après ski with a young crowd, The Moris Bar for live music and theme parties, Petit Danois for pool and shooters, The Pacific to watch all sports, The Underground for quirky French style partying, Victors for 2-4-1 cocktail happy hours, and of course you can’t visit Val without going to Dick’s Tea Bar after midnight.

Several new neighbourhoods have been built recently around town and have the nicest chalets. Look for Le Cret, Le Joseray, La Legettaz, Le Chatelard, or if you can stretch to it, go for millionaire’s row under the Bellevarde cliffs. The best of the British chalet companies are represented in these premier areas.

At the far end of the valley another 1.8km along is the pretty little farming hamlet of Le Fornet. It has an ancient stone bridge over the river and lots of traditional stone chalets. It has direct access to the skiing and some popular restaurants like the l’Arolay and l'Edelweiss. It is only 10 minutes by bus to town and they run until after 1am, but it is a world away in charm and style.Val D'Isere is a ledgendary resort, perfect for those hungry to ski and party to the limit!

Val d'Isère Skiing

The resort of Val d'Isère is at 1,850m (6,070ft) and the skiing goes up to 3,550m (11,650ft). It includes three glaciers and around 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of skiable terrain along with 300km of marked piste. This vast size and height brings Val d'Isère holidaymakers and extreme skiers from all over the world from November to May. You could ski here for a month and still be finding new adventures each day. The terrain park is world class and often holds top level competitions that you can watch from the comfort of Les Marmottes restaurant outdoor deck. La Fruitière, next to La Folie Douce, is considered the best table-service mountain restaurant in Val d'Isère. The lift, funicular, gondola and cable car system is ultra-modern and very efficient, and queues are minimal once on the mountain.

Val d'Isère holidays are an expert’s paradise but are particularly good for strong intermediate cruisers due to the vast amount of pistes you can ski on from Tignes le Breviere all the way to Le Fornet. There are plenty of free lifts for beginners and runs to start on but there is a bit of a lack of easy intermediate run so the learning curve is steep. They should cruise the blue runs up high and then download on a gondola rather than take their chances on ‘La Face’ down from the Bellevarde, the ‘Olympic downhill’ in La Daille, or the ‘Solaise’ from the easy, cruise-like skiing area above Le Lasinant.

Review
20/12/2006

Val d’Isere has one main village centre and most of the accommodation is close to the lifts and shops. Loads of places in Val d’Isere to go have a few drinks and have a boogie - very much a party resort, the ski area is amazing.

Review
12/12/2005

After good snow fall head to Le Fornet region and take the signal drag lift to experience great off-piste in the sunny bowl and Le Grand Vallon. Lots of powder, but you'll need to get there early.

Check out The Couloirs De Pisteurs for a real challenge - the name says it all - in the Bellevarde region.

Nice place! Very young and not as expensive as other french resorts. Very pretty and good snow as its high. Loads to do at night, bars, resturants, clubs, shops etc.......... lots of British people... its a young resort.

Review
10/01/2006

I LOVED Val d'Isere.. absolutely stunning town, huge ski area, lifts and runs right in the centre of the resort, great night life.. what more could you ask for? I fell in love with the place and can't wait to go back.

Review
08/01/2006

What a fantastic place Val d'Isere is. Beautiful scenery, wide slopes and lots for everyone. If you fancy an interesting route back at the end of the day try Piste 'L'. It's a blue but is plenty of fun as parts of it bear resemblance to a half pipe!!!

Review
23/04/2007

Fantastic ski area. We went very late in the season, so the runs back to the resort were not good, but still no shortage of skiing as you can easily link in to higher pistes at Tignes. Much nicer to stay in Val d'Isere than Tignes however as there is a proper village feel and atmosphere to Val d'Isere.

Review
13/03/2008

Val D'Isere is a great all around resort. It is very traditional and beautiful with striking scenery. Snow sure, fantastic restaurants, market on a Monday night and great après! Some really good Djs from the UK were out there while we were visiting too!

Review
18/04/2008

Val d'Isere is a fantastic skiing area with an excellent lift system so there is virtually no queuing. There are also some very good restaurants for long lunches.

Review
07/03/2008

Val d'Isere was superb for skiing / boarding but what made it stand out was all the other little bits. We (accidentally) went during French half term and were pleasantly surprised how easy it was to find good, inexpensive restaurants for lunch, that you could get on the lifts when you wanted without massive queues.

Review
26/03/2009

Val d’Isere combines with Tignes for the Espace Killy ski area. It is one of the most popular European resorts. The skiing is first class although I would not recommend it for a complete beginner. The town centre has a lovely alpine village atmosphere with range of good shops and boutiques. Val D’Isere is renowned for its nightlife which ranges form lively clubs like ‘Dicks Tea Bar’ to cosy creperies and traditional restaurants.

Review
10/02/2010

If you like to ski hard and party harder afterwards, Val d'Isere is one of the places to go. It is a beautiful town, a great place to spend Christmas. It has lots of great bars and restaurants. But they are very pricey. It is also full of Brits, and perhaps lacking the cosmopolitan feel of other resorts. You can get all kind of accommodation here, from luxury to basic. The skiing is great for all levels, and it is one the top 10 skiing resorts.

StuartE

This is France's premier resort and Britain's favourite
21/11/2012

This resort has the best snow conditions in the Tarentaise Valley. It traps the storms as they head south to Italy. There is so much terrain you could return to this resort every year and discover new routes each time. My latest favourite is the Itinerant route off the back of Grand Prix into the unpatrolled Valley du Manchet. A beautiful route with lots of options for steeper and steeper runs as you hug the left hand side traverse. The apres ski here is as good as it gets in France. La Folie Douce up above La Daille isn't quite what it used to be since the Fun Police made it close earlier and the price of drinks got silly, but it's still the place to end up most afternoons. The singer and part owner, Keli Starlight, is a mad egotist but thankfully his 1930's Caberet finishes around 3.30 and the DJ's have 1.30 hrs to really rev the place up. After dinner the choice of bars is endless. I like to play pool in Petit Danois, and take advantage of the 2-4-1 cocktails before 9pm at Victors. Ski resort nightclubs are the same everywhere - AVOID!

Skiing/Snowboarding:
5/5Apres Ski:
5/5

Mr Adam Johnson

Great Stay!
26/11/2012

Beautiful chalet. Great Staff. Conveniently positioned near to the centre of the village, 5-10 minute walk away. The food was lovely, and so was the wine. I would recommend this chalet to anybody looking for a great ski holiday in one of the best resorts.

Apres Ski:
4/5

Joshua Habin

champs avalin
25/03/2014

Staff were very friendly helpful and good fun, rooms very clean could have done with a TV in the room. Bar area very cramped (could knock the middle wall down be much better). Boot room could have been warmer to dry out stuff didn't like the 630 dinner in fact we ate out those days, food was very good. Wont go back but it was an enjoyable holiday - could do with somewhere cosy to sit after a long day on the pistes.

Skiing/Snowboarding:
1/5Apres Ski:
1/5

sharon kelly

champs avalin
25/03/2014

Staff were very friendly helpful and good fun, rooms very clean could have done with a TV in the room. Bar area very cramped (could knock the middle wall down be much better) Boot room could have been warmer to dry out stuff didn't like the 630 dinner in fact we ate out those days, food was very good. Wont go back but it was an enjoyable holiday - could do with somewhere cosy to sit after a long day on the pistes.

Skiing/Snowboarding:
5/5Apres Ski:
1/5

sharon kelly

Wonderful skiing
26/01/2015

We have stayed at this Hotel for many years and always had nothing but praise. The rooms this year nos 136 and 137 are overlooking a rather noisy nightclub which goes on until the early morning. Two of our party requested a change of room.
The majority of the staff have been there several years and are all wonderfully welcoming, but, unfortunately
the restaurant staff has changed. There does not appear to be anyone in overall charge, the service was very slow, wine would not be served until after the first course. The quality of the food was good, rather than exceptional as it used to be . Will not be in a hurry to return to this hotel, which seems a shame after so many great holidays there.

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What our customers say

"I was so impressed with the way Laura handled my initial call that as soon as I got home I decided to forget all of the other agents and companies and call her straight back and book the holiday. Thank you again Iglu for being so user friendly and more importantly thank you to Laura for being such an asset to your company and the sales profession."